This week, Michael and Melinda look at the finale of American Idol XIV, and discuss just how Nick Fradiani defeated Clark Beckham. How did it happen, and was it the right call by America based on what we saw last Tuesday night? Also, who were the highlights of Wednesday night’s season finale? And what was the most abhorrent travesty about Tuesday night’s Top 2 performance show? It’s one of Michael and Melinda’s most passionate Idol discussions. They then switch gears to discuss The Voice finale and whether or not anyone can actually beat Sawyer Fredericks. The talk then turns to the best performances of the week, and some of the big misfires, including one hilarious staging disagreement between the hosts. It’s another awesome Reality Check, and it’s also the penultimate episode of this season! So definitely check it out.

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THOUGHTS

While I don’t think Clark was completely screwed by the winner’s single, I do think Nick easily had the stronger track of the two Idol finalists. Hell, the fact that it’s already the FIFA Women’s World Cup anthem for 2015 says a lot about where the bigwigs’ heads were at while they were writing it. But that wasn’t even the biggest takeaway from this week’s Reality Check, in my opinion…

The big takeaway, for me, was how much I liked Melinda’s idea for next year’s Idol results if they’re really sticking with a combined performance/results show (which…I mean, come on now. They are). Finalists perform, America votes, and then the finalists perform the next week. And then, at the end of the show — AFTER everyone has already performed — the Bottom 2 are revealed and America saves one of the two based on the performance they just saw. This way, no one is finding out they’re in the Bottom 2 only to be forced to sing for their supper.

However, I do have one significant problem with the idea: Say what you will about having to perform after finding out you’re in the Bottom 2, but there’s arguably merit in getting the chance to know you’re singing for your life before you have to sing. Granted, the fear of elimination should be enough to convince each contestant to sing for his or her life every week anyway, whether they’re eventually in the Bottom 2 or not, but there’s a fairly notable distinction between how some vocalists tackle a weekly performance vs. how they take on a Sing for Survival performance. I don’t think Rayvon would have gotten as far as he did if he didn’t know he was in the Bottom 2 before singing for those 5 weeks.

That said, I still think Melinda’s idea is vastly superior to what we ended up with this year.

As for The Voice, I really don’t see a way Sawyer loses this. But if Meghan does somehow beat him, I think that’ll pretty much seal the theory that Blake is basically his own vote multiplier (which, to be fair, isn’t exactly a new notion), because while Meghan is certainly talented, I can’t be certain how far she would have gone had she not been stolen by Blake, whereas I’m confident Sawyer would have been fine no matter where he landed. But that’s all conjecture, at this point. I suppose we’ll find out who wins later tonight. But I’d still be the farm on Sawyer (no pun intended, considering his background).

But what do you think? Do you agree with Michael and Melinda? Disagree? Let us know in the comments!

Also, if you missed any of the shows discussed in this week’s Reality Check, check out the links below for recaps with relevant videos in each post: